


(An Attempt At) Subterfuge

by Timeboundpythia



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-07 00:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6775795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timeboundpythia/pseuds/Timeboundpythia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As if everything about her life isn’t already high risk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(An Attempt At) Subterfuge

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the premise that Tony was lying about Pepper for a purpose during 'Captain America: Civil War'.

It’s not a safe house, she tells herself. Nor is it a hostage situation.

Except, technically – biologically – it is.

The place has all the usual Stark tech and tricks, arranged so efficiently that it cannot have been thrown together at the last minute. Jocasta is on-hand to regulate almost everything, and Pepper tries not to think about the fact that the AI is named for a character from Greek tragedy.

A high risk pregnancy is what they’re calling it.

High risk.

As if everything about her life isn’t already high risk.

She stares down high risk on a daily basis.

\--

It’s not going to work. At least, not for long.

Maybe long enough to get past the first few months, but lying and hiding are not her style, nor his, and everyone knows it. There’s only so long that she can appear to drop off the map and work with crucial contacts only before questions are asked and the truth is revealed.

Perhaps it will be long enough for Tony to calm down. Perhaps it will be long enough for _her_ to calm down.

Her wedding ring bumps against the base of her ribcage, strung on a chain of silver.

\--

He tells her bits and pieces, here and there, mostly so that they can get their stories straight when their friends – and others – begin asking questions. He rambles, as is so typical of him, and they both fall asleep with their cell phones still connected more often than not.

She never gets the whole story, but she gets enough.

Enough to lower her stress levels minutely; enough to know that to wade in would cause more harm than good, primarily to her and the life they don’t yet know.

She pretends not to hear all that he doesn’t tell her.

\--

The thought of becoming a parent has sent him into a tailspin of guilt and panic and recklessness. His child seeing him as too many others do – as he does – is not something he can bear. She hears him start more fires as he desperately tries to put out others, and more desperately attempts to keep her distant and removed from the thoughts of all.

She’s never been good at staying idle. She tries. Fails, sometimes. Nearly always.

He swears Steve saw his ring. He fixates on it. That little mistake.

Pepper forms a fist around hers and holds on.

\--

He sends her Rhodey, still unsteady on his feet and determined every day to do better. She watches him, offering what encouragement she can without being patronising, and he, in turn, fondly berates her, telling her to rest and relax and do everything not-Pepper.

It only worries her more, the realisation that Tony is gathering together everyone most precious to him and keeping them where even he can’t harm them.

Neither she nor Rhodey sleep well. He wakes up screaming and her sleepwalking only gets worse.

They take to sharing a single, vast bed, just to watch over each other.

\--

Waking nightmares of Extremis and her bloodied, broken husband are soothed by requests to Jocasta to project the baby’s heartbeat for her to hear. Soon, the AI learns to flood the house with the sound in the initial seconds that the hallmarks of a panic attack are detected.

Oddly, it even seems to calm Rhodey.

She’s clinging to the edge of the kitchen counter, trying to breathe, when Tony walks through the door, something wild still edging his gaze.

He tilts his head in silent enquiry, and she fixes her focus on him and nods.

And the distance is gone.


End file.
